Saturday, October 8, 2011

At the Music Hall: I Live in Trafalgar Square

Today I've been busy removing, And I'm all in a frigidy-fidge.
My last digs were on the Embankment -
The third seat from Waterloo Bridge.
But the cooking - and O! the attendants -
Didn't happen to suit me so well.
So I ordered my man to pick up,
And a'look out for another hotel.
He did - and the new place is extra, I vow.
Where I'm staying now.

CHORUS:

I live in Trafalgar Square,
With four lions to guard me.
Fountains and statues all over the place,
And the metropolis staring me right in the face.
I'll own it's a trifle drafty,
But I look at it this way, you see:
If it's good enough for Nelson,
It's quite good enough for me.

The beds ain't so soft as they might be,
Still, the temperature's never too high.
And it's nice to see the swells who are passing,
Look on you with envious eyes.
And then when you wake in the morning,
Just fancy how nice it must be,
To have a good walk for your breakfast,
And the same for your dinner and tea.
There's many a swell up in Barclay tonight,
Who'd be glad if he only had my appetite.

CHORUS:

When I think of those unlucky bounders,
The Morgans and Clarence deClares,
Who are forced to put up at the Cecil,
My tenderest sympathy's theirs!
And to show I'm not selfish or greedy,
I just tell each aristocrat
That I don't mind exchanging apartments,
Now, I can't say fairer than that!
But the soft headed sillies won't hear what I say,
They still go on suff'ring, while I'm all O.K!

CHORUS:

“I Live In Trafalgar Square" was written by C.W. Murphy and copyrighted in 1902 by Francis, Day & Hunter. The song was first popularized by one Morny Cash. It is a tale of patriotism turned to irony and cynicism.

Trafalgar Square’s most famous resident is the statue of Horatio, Lord Nelson, Vice-Admiral of the British Fleet whose finest victory was the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, in which he was mortally wounded. Trafalgar Square was constructed to commemorate the Battle, and Lord Nelson "lives" on top of Nelson's Column, which was completed in 1843, where he is guarded by the four lions.

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